The battleground: How the states fell
Posted: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 10:01 AM by Domenico Montanaro
COLORADO: The Denver Post: "From the outset, the campaign veered from traditional Democratic strategy, which limited them to pockets of the country, and instead targeted regions where Democrats don't usually venture. The campaign's mobilization and organizational efforts among volunteers is likely unparalleled in current politics, using everything from text messaging to Internet recruiting."
FLORIDA: Hang This on Your Chad and Poke It! In Florida, Obama paved a path to victory by winning the swing counties on the Gulf Coast and outperforming Kerry and Gore (for that matter) nearly everywhere else, including in Orange, Duval and Volusia counties.
The Miami Herald: "For Florida Democrats, who have tolerated a Republican-controlled state government since the late 1990s and relished few statewide victories since then, Obama's victory signaled a new day. The Democratic nominee didn't just invest in a rusty political infrastructure; he built a new one from the ground up."
GEORGIA: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The McCain win in Georgia is a tribute to the state Republican Party's ability to set aside its differences and work for the good of the party. McCain lost the February primary, and at the state Republican convention, speaker after speaker mentioned how McCain was their first choice.But McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee seemed to change that. Evangelical conservatives, some of whom distrusted McCain, saw in Palin a kindred spirit and moved solidly back into the fold."
INDIANA: Hoosier Daddy: There isn’t much to compare what Obama did in Indiana. Think about this, not only had the Hoosier State not gone for a Democrat since 1964, it also was a 20-point margin for Bush just four years ago. It's just emblamatic of how much a tectonic election this was. How’d Obama do it? With the organization he built there during the primaries, he beat Kerry’s margins in Marion and Lake and flipped several counties, including, Vigo, Vanderburgh, Perry, Spencer, Madison, Delaware, Vermillon and St. Joseph’s. It turned out not to be just about a few counties. Remember, there’s a reason Obama held that rally in places like Evansville in Vanderburgh the night of Pennsylvania primary.
"While Obama was rewriting the nation's history, he was making history in Indiana, well, eking out a razor-thin victory here. It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won the state in 44 years. McCain won many rural counties with 60 percent or more of the vote, but Obama offset that with big margins in many larger counties, including Marion, St. Joseph and Lake, a Democratic stronghold near his hometown of Chicago."
IOWA: The Des Moines Register's Yepsen calls Obama's victory speech "It was moving oratory and a tonic for a weary nation anxious to move on."
MISSOURI: No showing of results from the Show-Me state as of this writing, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers this county analysis: "In St. Charles County, another Republican stronghold, McCain appeared to be performing slightly below Bush's 2004 numbers. Obama, meanwhile, was outpolling Kerry by a significant margin in urban and suburban parts of the state. In the city of St. Louis, Obama's edge was 108,000 votes."
NEVADA: Silver (State) Surfer: Obama won Nevada convincingly. We’d heard a lot about the Dems’ new voter registration edge in traditionally Republican areas like Washoe County. In fact, Obama flipped Washoe, 55%-43%. It was a place Bush won 51%-47% in 2004. Obama also fared better than Kerry in rural northeastern Elko. Bush had won it 76%-19%, but Obama shrunk the margins. He still lost, but gained almost 10 percentage points, 68%-28%, in a place he made nearly half a dozen stops this cycle.
Early vote, says the Las Vegas Sun, was key to Obama's victory. "The Democrat scored surprisingly strong numbers in early returns in Nevada, putting the state out of reach for his rival, Republican John McCain.
NEW YORK: "Democrats won control of the State Senate last night for the first time in 43 years by ousting veteran Republicans in Suffolk and Queens."
NORTH CAROLINA: If Obama pulls out the still-not-called Tar Heel State, it will have pulled a "hat trick" -- party wins in the Senate, governor, and presidential races -- for the first time since 1960.
OHIO: The Columbus Dispatch: "Democrats, riding the coattails of Barack Obama, regained control of the Ohio House on Tuesday for the first time since Verne Riffe ended his 20-year reign as Speaker in 1994."
PENNSYLVANIA: Per the Philly Inquirer: "If many western Pennsylvanians are racists, as U.S. Rep. John Murtha blurted recently, it appears that some found a way to vote for a black man anyway and that others stayed home in yesterday's election. Or maybe, as Murtha later said, he was wrong about his constituents. Democrat Barack Obama cruised to a comfortable win in the Keystone State with a strong turnout in Philadelphia and a big win in its suburbs. He also made inroads into traditional Republican areas elsewhere in the state, where turnout was down compared to four years ago."
VIRGINIA: Super NoVA: Obama rode to victory in Virginia, the first time for a Democrat since 1964, in part because of increased margins in Northern Virginia. He won Loudon 53%-47% (Bush won it 56%-44%); Fairfax 59%-41% (Kerry won it 53%-46%); Arlington: Obama 69%-30% (Kerry 63%-32%); Prince William 56%-44% (Bush won it 53%-46%). Additionally, Obama got a wide 72%-28% win out of Alexandria. Elsewhere, Obama also blew out Kerry's margin in Albermarle. Kerry won it 51%-49%; Obama took it 59%-40%. Obama also flipped Henrico (Richmond and suburbs). Bush had won it 54%-46%; Obama won it by about the reverse margin, 56%-44%, a net 20-percentage point change.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch: 'In the end, Virginia's 13 electoral votes didn't matter. Obama won enough formerly red states elsewhere to wrap up the Electoral College without Virginia. But Obama's defeat of Sen. John McCain in Virginia represented a milestone in the Democratic Party's upward march in the state."
